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Britain's Asians are a young population and their socio-economic status is low, with racial disadvantage in housing, employment, education and health. Research on their health has usually not been conducted in its socio-economic and demographic context and there is little on their use of primary care. Three studies were conducted to investigate their relationship with primary care in Bradford. A study of general practice attenders of white/British, Pakistani and Indian origin confirmed the demographic and socio-economic differences between the groups. The former had higher rates of alcohol and cigarette consumption. For Pakistanis and Indians, fluency and literacy in English was poor. Ethnic and linguistic match between doctor and patient was more important in patients' choice of doctor than the doctor's sex. Differential employment status of Asian and white/British accounted for some of the differences in health. A study of general practice attendance showed similar rates of surgery consultations between Asians and Non-Asians; the latter made greater use of domiciliary services. Both these studies were conducted in an inner Bradford health centre with an Asian male, a white male and a white female doctor. Bradford GPs were found to perceive that Asian patients made greater use of surgery and domiciliary consultations; attended more often for trivial complaints; and had lower compliance rates than Non-Asians. These perceptions were not supported by objective data. Better qualified GPs had a smaller, and Asian doctors had a greater proportion of Asian patients on their lists. Research, and action on Asians' health, needs to take account of their poorer socio-economic status.

Abstract: The interplay of independent variables (wave, river, and tidal input) in marginal and shallow-marine environments complicates identifying facies and interpreting paleoenvironments in the rock record. Therefore, predicting, correlating facies, determining facies thickness and distribution, and assessing the quality of shallow marine clastic reservoir facies remains challenging. This study integrates sedimentology and ichnology to characterize the depositional environments of the Lower Cretaceous Wabiskaw Member of the Clearwater Formation in north-east Alberta, Canada, the Lower Permian Dandot Formation of east-central Salt Range, Pakistan, and the Early Cambrian Khussak Formation of east-central Salt Range, Pakistan. The Wabiskaw Member (deltaic, strand plain shoreface-offshore deposits), the Dandot Formation (tide-dominated estuarine and deltaic deposits), and the Khussak Formation (tidal flat deposits) provide excellent case studies to evaluate the ichnological and sedimentological characteristics associated with laterally and vertically variable stresses in wave-tide, and river influenced nearshore settings. Ten sedimentary facies describe the Wabiskaw Member. The recurring facies are grouped into four facies associations representing both proximal and distal marginal marine environments, including 1) fluvial-influenced prodelta, 2) wave-storm influenced delta front to a mouth bar, 3) storm-influenced offshore, and 4) distal lower to middle shoreface. Characteristic sedimentological and ichnological signatures differentiate Wabiskaw Member deltaic (prodelta-delta front) deposits from related strand plains. The deltaic deposits exhibit soft-sediment deformation structures, fluid mud, syneresis cracks, and low-diversity and diminutive trace-fossil suites under comparable stress conditions. In contrast, fully marine strand plain shoreface-offshore complexes display comparatively robust trace fossils with high ichno-diversity and bioturbation intensities. To evaluate the reservoir quality of various reservoir facies (F-3, F-4, F-7, F-8) of the Wabiskaw Member, their reservoir characteristics (porosity, permeability, pore throat radii, flow-storage capacity, oil saturation, and thickness) are compared. Among the studied reservoir facies, F-4 has the highest quality and is the most productive (pore throat radius >20 μm, 18% flow, and 4% storage capacity). Whereas F-3, with micro-porous characteristics (pore-throat radii ranging from 2 to 4 μm), has the lowest quality among the Wabiskaw Member reservoir facies, with 37% storage and ≤5% capacity flow. The Dandot Formation in northwest Pakistan is a 35-40 m thick succession of tide-dominated estuarine and deltaic deposits, which have been characterized using sedimentologic and ichnologic datasets. Thirteen sedimentary facies describe the lower Permian Dandot Formation (Salt range, north-west Pakistan). The recurring facies are grouped into eight facies associations representing both fluvial and marginal marine environments, including 1) Fluvial channel deposits, 2) Paleosol deposits, 3) Intertidal mud-flat to mixed-flat deposits, 4) Estuarine tidal bars, 5) Prodelta deposits, 6) Delta front deposits, 7) Proximal delta front-mouth bar, and 8) Tidally influenced channel deposits. The estuarine deposits show a fining-upward trend, are cleaner, and have better sorting than deltaic deposits, which form a coarsening-upward sequence. Additionally, trace fossils in deltaic deposits are more diverse and heterogeneously distributed than those in estuarine deposits, serving as a valuable criterion for distinguishing between the two settings. The Early Cambrian Khussak Formation of the east-central Salt Range, Pakistan, is studied to identify its ichnological and sedimentological characteristics. This integrated study resulted in identifying thirteen lithofacies and six recurring facies associations, including 1) Upper intertidal mud flat deposits, 2) Middle intertidal mixed flat deposits, 3) Lower intertidal sand flat deposits, 4) Inter-tidal creek point bar deposits, 5) Subtidal bar deposits and 6) Subtidal bay deposits. The Khussak Formation's tidal flat deposits exhibit a distinct trend in ichnofacies. The Cruziana Ichnofacies characterize the lower energy proximal deposits. In contrast, the Skolithos Ichnofacies represent high-energy distal deposits. The mud flat, mixed flat, sand flat, and sub-tidal deposits of the Khussak strata exhibit subtle and gradual ichnologic variation but are distinct enough to indicate facies. The work on the Wabiskaw Member in northeast Alberta (Township 95-98, Range 10-14), and the Lower Permian (Dandot Formation) and Lower Cambrian (Khussak Formation) strata of east-central Salt Range, Pakistan, is one of the first integrated sedimentologic-ichnologic studies of these units. Establishing a geological model for these units allows us to better understand the depositional process at the time of their formation. In addition, this study effectively addresses the gaps in our geological knowledge of the areas and contributes to the prediction and correlation of facies with greater confidence.